The main problem, and only for the older ones, is that some of us have got old habits and some fixed 135mm film FLs and their properties fixed in our brains, including me. At least M43's cropping factor is easy to use when we encounter an unfamiliar FL and have to convert to a new equivalent number to compare with old references to know what we are dealing with. Having used a Pentax DSLR before, I found it a challenge for old brains to deal with APSC crop factors sometimes, e.g. in such arithmetic as 1.5 x 43mm, or 1.5 x 77mm,

This is one of the many advantages of M43 over APS-C, an easy to use crop factor.

A very valid point! Human attachment to the familiar is a factor in many things, including the recent debate in another thread about 'Field of View' vs 'focal length' as a useful way of categorising lenses (which would avoid the need for many 'crop factor' discussions / calculations). But I accept many long-term enthusiasts find it much easier to make sense of this new-fangled system by relating back to one that is more familiar.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, M43 has tempted some of us to 'up-scale' from compact P&S to an interchangeable lens system that doesn't consume half our baggage allowance when we travel. While I empathise with your perspective, I have no legacy glass and the 'classic' focal lengths have no intuitive meaning for me.

To help me learn from the wealth of information available here and at other places, my inner-geek is gradually building an understanding of what to expect from a '35mm FF equivalent' etc.

But... I would find it much easier to just learn this new-ish system in its own terms, rather than learning about a legacy system that I've never owned (and barely handled) to be able to understand it's replacement (just teasing about the 'replacement', before I'm flamed for that...)

So my vote would go to a set of focal lengths that are optimal for this system, without necessarily basing these on film 'classics', but also to use of 'FoV' as a more user-friendly way of describing their characteristics which is interchangeable across any sensor size.

Learning the focal lengths or the characteristics of lenses with those focal lengths for just the system you use is OK, until you switch to another larger or smaller system, or if you have to use more than one system. Then there will be problems communicating with others who use a different system than you, when describing lenses or views, DOF, safe shutter speed without blur, etc if you, without a common reference. FOV seems OK as a reference, but you will also need to do multiplications or divisions with the crop factors of the different systems in question when working out or talking about DOF, magnification, etc. I think the current equiv FL (based on FF or 135mm film) is already familiar to millions and retraining or relearning is not seen as worthwhile without more justification. It would be nice of course if FOV is labelled also on every lens.

Of course, I'm grudgingly coming to terms with the fact that the world doesn't give a rat's wotsit about my opinion, but I'm pretty sure home-computers became mainstream by making it easier for new adopters, not by making them do tricky maths!

The modern camera, especially mirrorless camera, is a computer with lens mounts and LCD or EVF as monitors. The camera makers can at any time give us equiv. FL and FOV, magnification data, etc on the LCD or EVF when the zoom ring is turned to save us doing maths. They can also add DOF calculation functions. For example, by touching one spot on the LCD to indicate the near point and touching another spot to indicate the far point, to select the area that must be sharp, and the camera can automatically adjust the aperture based on some preselected CoC value and also adjust the focus distance necessary based the focal length of the lens mounted, to ensure everything is sharp in that area. It will of course display all the data like hyperfocal distance, or indicate the spot where it has decided to focus on with shimmies. This can all be done and shown on the EVF, so one does not have to take the eyes off and chimp. There are also many other things it can do and display resultant effects in an interactive way on the EVF, e.g. focus stacking. With EVF and processor power improving all the time, I think many things will be possible.

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